Archetypes

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Archetypes
Why do we need stories?
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Why do we need stories?

• To explain natural phenomenon such as great
  floods and the creation of the world
• To answer such questions such as why we are born
  and why we die
• To help us escape reality by entering a world
  where the good guy wins, the forces of evil are
  defeated, and love conquers all
• To help define the roles of good and evil such as
  the hero and the villain so that we might
  recognize them in reality

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What is an archetype?

• Original pattern or model of which all things of
  the same type are representations.
• A perfect example
• Recurring patterns of situations, characters, or
  symbols existing universally and instinctively in
  the collective unconscious.

Carl G. Jung
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What characteristics do archetypes share?

• Not individual but the part we share with all
  humanity.
• Connect us to our past and connect our past to a
  common source
• Not directly knowable but instead express
  themselves in forms.
• Universal
• Cannot be explained by interaction among
  culturesgeography and history often made this
  impossible.
• Recurrent, appearing in slightly altered forms to
  relate present day situations to the past for
  meaning

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Three types of archetypes

• Character Archetypes
• Situational Archetypes
• Symbolic Archetypes

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Character Archetypes
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Character Archetypes

• THE HERO mother is sometimes a virgin
  circumstances of birth are unusual some attempt
  is made at birth to kill him raised by foster
  parents, returns to his kingdom to right wrongs
  marries a princess becomes king meets a
  mysterious death body is sometimes burned or
  missing rather than buried

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Character Archetypes

• YOUNG ONE FROM THE PROVINCES hero is taken away
  as a young man and raised by strangers when he
  returns home, he can view problems objectively
  and can solve them easier

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Character Archetypes

• THE INITIATE young heroes or heroines who go
  through training usually innocent and may wear
  white

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Character Archetypes

• MENTORteacher or counselor to the initiate
  often are father or mother figures to the hero or
  heroine

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Character Archetypes

• PARENT/CHILD CONFLICT father and son are
  separated and do not meet until the son is an
  adult often the mentor is more loved and
  respected than the parent

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Character Archetypes

• The Herald
• Heralds act to signal change and invite the
  character to answer the call to adventure. Their
  job is to motivate the hero into action, despite
  the heros frequent desire to maintain the status
  quo. Heralds can be people, objects or acts of
  nature.

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Character Archetypes

• Threshold Guardians
• The Threshold Guardian's job is to ensure the
  protagonist is worthy of passing the threshold,
  and thus they act as part of the tests the
  protagonist must face in the journey. They can
  also be inanimate objects or forces of nature

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Character Archetypes

• HUNTING GROUP OF COMPANIONS loyal companions
  willing to face any number of dangers to be
  together

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Character Archetypes

• LOYAL RETAINERS- somewhat like servants to the
  hero who are heroic themselves their duty is to
  protect the hero and reflect the honor and
  nobility of the hero

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Character Archetypes

• FRIENDLY BEASTS
• These creatures aid or serve the hero/heroine
  and symbolize how nature is on the side of the
  hero/heroine

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Character Archetypes

• DEVIL FIGURE evil incarnate offers worldly
  goods, fame, or knowledge to the hero in exchange
  for possession of the soul

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Character Archetypes

• CREATURE OF NIGHTMARE animal or creature
  disfigured or mutated monsters who are the
  antagonists in the story

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Character Archetypes

• EVIL FIGURE WITH GOOD HEART redeemable evil
  figure saved by the nobility or love of the hero.

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Character Archetypes

• SCAPEGOATanimal or human who is unjustly held
  responsible for others sins sacrificed but they
  often become more powerful force dead than alive

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Character Archetypes

• OUTCASTfigure banished from a social group
  for some crime against his fellow man (could be
  falsely accused of a crime or could choose to
  banish himself from guilt), or for a questionable
  past

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Character Archetypes

• EARTHMOTHER offers spiritual and emotional
  nourishment to those she meets shown in earth
  colors and has large breasts and hips symbolic of
  her childbearing capabilities

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Character Archetypes

• TEMPTRESS sensuous beauty tries to bring
  about the heros downfall because he is
  physically attracted to her

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Character Archetypes

• PLATONIC IDEAL female figure who provides
  intellectual stimulation for the hero he is not
  physically attracted to her

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Character Archetypes

• THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE a married woman who finds
  her husband dull or unattractive seeks a more
  virile or interesting man. Archetypically, the
  woman is the center of the family and is
  responsible for keeping it together.

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Character Archetypes

• DAMSAL IN DISTRESS The vulnerable woman must
  be rescued by the hero. She is often a trap by
  the devil figure or the temptress to ensure the
  unsuspecting hero cannot finish the journey.

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Character Archetypes

• STAR-CROSSED LOVERS two lovers forbidden to
  be together because of the rules of society or
  family often ends tragically

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Situational Archetypes
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Situational Archetypes

• THE QUESTsearch for someone or some object,
  which when it is found and brought back will
  restore life to a wasted land, and the desolation
  of which is mirrored by a leaders illness and
  disability.
• THE TASKto save the kingdom, to win the fair
  lady, the hero performs some superhuman deed to
  identify himself so that he may assume his
  rightful position

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Situational Archetypes

• THE JOURNEYthe hero goes in search of some truth
  or information to restore life to the kingdom he
  must descend into a real or psychological hell
  and is forced to discover the blackest truths
  about himself (usually his faults) he must then
  decide to return to the world of the living this
  could also appear as a group of isolated people
  (trapped on a boat, bus, island) to represent
  society

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Situational Archetypes

• THE INITIATION the awakening of a teenager or an
  initiation into adult life the adolescent comes
  into his/her maturity with new awareness and
  problems along with a new hope for the community
• THE RITUAL actual ceremony that marks a new
  stage (rite of passage) in life (weddings,
  funerals, coronations)

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Situational Archetypes

• THE MAGIC WEAPON The weapon the hero needs
  in order to complete the quest represents the
  extraordinary quality of the hero because no one
  else can wield the weapon or use it to its full
  potential. It is usually given by a mentor
  figure and can only be used by the hero.

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Situational Archetypes

• THE FALLdescent from a higher to a lower state
  of being characters experience a loss of
  innocence and often experience an expulsion from
  a kind of paradise as a penalty for their
  disobedience and moral transgression

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Situational Archetypes

• THE UNHEALABLE WOUND a wound that is either
  physical or psychological it cannot be healed
  fully indicates a loss of innocence always
  aches and may drive the sufferer to desperate
  measures

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Situational Archetypes

• DEATH AND REBIRTH deals with the similarities
  between the cycle of nature and life morning and
  springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth
  evening and winter suggest old age or death

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Situational Archetypes

• NATURE vs. MECHANISTIC WORLD that which is
  natural, or part of the natural order is good.
  Technology which separates people from nature, or
  the natural world, is bad.

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Situational Archetypes

• BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL good triumphs
  over the opposing force of evil despite great
  odds, keeping mankind hopeful (optimism)

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Symbolic Archetypes
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Symbolic Archetypes

• LIGHT VS. DARKNESS light suggests hope, renewal,
  or intellectual illumination darkness suggests
  the unknown, ignorance, or despair.

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Symbolic Archetypes

• INNATE WISDOM VS EDUCATED STUPIDITY Uneducated
  characters can often be wise using their common
  sense while some very educated characters have no
  common sense

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Symbolic Archetypes

• SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION the gods or special
  forces most often intervene on the side of the
  hero to assist him in his quest

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Symbolic Archetypes

• FIRE VS. ICE fire, a positive archetype, can
  represent knowledge, light, life, and rebirth
  while ice can represent ignorance, darkness,
  sterility, and death

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Symbolic Archetypes

• HAVEN VS. WILDERNESS for the hero, places of
  safety are required for time to regain health and
  resources these hideouts are often in unusual
  places

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Symbolic Archetypes

• WATER vs. DESERT Because water is necessary
  to life and growth, it commonly appears as a
  birth symbol, as baptism symbolizes a spiritual
  birth. Rain, rivers, oceans, etc. also function
  the same way. The desert suggests the opposite.

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Symbolic Archetypes

• HEAVEN VS. HELL gods live in the skies or
  mountaintops evil forces live in the bowels of
  the earth